Chapter 559: Encountering a Flash Flood

"Let me tell you the truth, He Daqing was already on the promotion list, it's just that there wasn't a vacancy yet. This time, I'm transferring Deputy Factory Director Lu Zhaoheng to the Ministry to serve as a Deputy Bureau Chief, so your father can take his position! But it still has to go through the proper procedures."

He Yuzhu deliberately grinned: "Hearing it like that, why do I feel like I'm the one losing out?"

Secretary Liu also laughed and teased: "You are losing out. Going to reclaim wasteland costs a lot of money; are you going to have to borrow money from Liushi Trading Company again?"

He Yuzhu nodded.

As soon as he returned to the factory, he immediately found Lao Yang: "I need to produce 100 units of agricultural machinery within one month."

Lao Yang spread his hands: "Has the Ministry approved it?"

"Approved!" He Yuzhu handed over the slip approved by Deputy Minister Liu.

Once Lao Yang saw that it required over 850 tons of steel, he shook his head like a rattle-drum: "Zhuzi, this is all outside the plan; I can't manage this within a month."

He Yuzhu was unhurried: "Lao Yang, Liushi Trading got a batch of decommissioned coastal defense cannons from Hong Kong, 50 in total, all top-quality steel. I'll give them to you at a low price. With this slip, can it be approved?"

Lao Yang's eyes lit up: "You brat, why didn't you say so earlier!"

"Lao Yang, I went to the Ministry and there are some changes; you still need to help me recruit 600 people. Deputy Minister Liu quintupled my 3 million jin of grain, so this time I need 600 people."

Factory Director Yang slapped the table hard: "This is a great thing that benefits both the factory and the people! I won't hide it from you, I know the grain supply for several brother factories is starting to get tight. Deputy Minister Liu is planning ahead!"

The next day, the news of the Rolling Mill's recruitment was posted in the factory first.

But almost no one in the factory was willing to sign up.

Following that, the news spread thoroughly throughout Si Jiu Cheng.

Who with connections would be willing to go to the Northeast to farm for two years? Only those who truly had no other way out and couldn't put food on the table at home gritted their teeth and signed up.

He Yuzhu handed the recruitment matter over to Ershuan to be fully responsible for, with only one ironclad rule: they must be able to endure hardship.

He had just returned to the Siheyuan when he was stopped by Yan Bugui.

"Zhuzi, I heard your Rolling Mill is recruiting? My Yan Jiecheng is seventeen and still doesn't have a job; can he go with you this time?"

"We treat everyone equally, just go sign up directly," He Yuzhu said. "But I'll say the ugly things first: the place for wasteland reclamation is very bitter, and if you regret it halfway, you'll have to pay compensation. Before we leave, we will have unified training for driving; everyone must learn."

"Learn to drive a car? That's great! After coming back in two years, just knowing how to drive will be enough to find a job! I'll have Jiecheng go sign up first thing tomorrow morning!" Yan Bugui walked away happily.

Not long after, Wang Xia came running over in a rush.

He Yuzhu hurriedly handed her a bottle of iced soda: "Sister, do you have something to find me for?"

Wang Xia fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan, covered in sweat: "There are dozens of struggling families in the neighborhood; I've always wanted to arrange jobs for them, but it's too hard to find positions now. How much money can you give them a month for going to the Northeast to reclaim wasteland this time?"

He Yuzhu told the truth: "Sister, I won't hide it from you. We are doing mechanized reclamation this time; almost everyone has to know how to drive and operate machinery. Those who are slow or afraid of hardship definitely won't do. The benefits are very good; ordinary workers in Beijing get twenty, but we have a base of forty, and meals are all free. But don't tell anyone else yet."

Wang Xia slapped her thigh: "I knew you wouldn't treat your own people badly! I'll recommend fifty people to you; I definitely won't let you down!"

"Thirty-something years old, in good health, and with a bit of education—we want both men and women," He Yuzhu said.

"You want women too? Then can you give me a quota for seventy people?"

"Fine!"

After sending Wang Xia away, He Yuzhu buried himself in the blueprints and began to optimize the designs for various agricultural machines and trench diggers.

In five days, all six hundred people were recruited: four hundred and fifty men and one hundred and fifty women.

Immediately after, He Yuzhu transferred 20 brand-new Chevrolet pickups from Liushi Trading and held centralized driving training in the open lot of the Rolling Mill.

At this, the whole factory was stunned—letting these novices drive brand-new cars? Isn't this a waste of precious things!

Soon, people came to "beg for favors."

First was Lao Yang, who insisted on having one, saying this car had high horsepower and was suitable for him to go to the suburbs.

He Yuzhu had no choice but to take back his old jeep and exchange it for a new pickup for him.

The news spread fast, and Tian Dan followed up to his door: "Zhuzi, you're not being a good friend. You brought back cars without saying a word, and you're still a Consultant for our Bureau!"

"How many do you want?"

"Would three be okay?" Tian Dan asked ingratiatingly.

"Fine, I expect others are eyeing them too."

Just as Tian Dan was test-driving, Secretary Liu came in person.

Looking at the 19 brand-new blue pickups, he touched the car body: "Give me three, and I'll trade you two Soviet ZIS trucks."

He Yuzhu laughed: "Since you've asked, I'll give you five, but they can't be transferred over until the day after tomorrow."

"That's great!" Secretary Liu left happily.

On the night before departure, Chen Xueru hugged He Yuzhu, her eyes red, and cried for quite a while.

He Yuzhu comforted her softly: "This isn't like going to Guangzhou; the train reaches Harbin in two days, and I might be able to come back in October. I've put canned food, candies, and snacks in the underground warehouse; don't let Yushui and the other children go hungry."

"I know, don't you worry," Chen Xueru wiped her tears and said, "It's strange, Yan Bugui actually gave me several jin of cured meat and wouldn't take no for an answer. Why is this person suddenly so generous?"

He Yuzhu laughed: "It's just because his eldest son is going to reclaim wasteland with me, and he hopes I'll look after him."

A few days later, He Yuzhu led a full 600 people, driving more than 60 vehicles of various models, and drove out of Beijing in a grand procession.

These vehicles were ostensibly provided by Liushi Trading, but in reality, they were all things he had collected during his last trip to M Country.

The agricultural machinery hadn't been fully built yet, but the main machines for reclaiming wasteland, plowing, and digging trenches were already equipped.

He knew too well that once summer arrived in Heilongjiang, it would become a swamp, so digging canals for drainage was a must.

He Yuzhu led the group without encountering any road bandits, but several heavy rains in a row turned the road into a muddy mess, ten times harder to travel than the trip to Guangzhou last time.

By the time He Yuzhu and his group finally arrived near Jixian County in Harbin, it had taken a full ten days.

Along the way, cars got stuck in the mud almost every day, requiring everyone to get out and push.

Every day, the workers had to deal with mud and water, and they all almost turned into mud monkeys. Fortunately, it was summer, so they could bathe as long as there was water.

If it weren't for the fact that they had all the rice and pork-stewed vermicelli they could eat at every meal along the way, half of them would have probably run away long ago.

As soon as the convoy reached the Anbang River on the edge of the county, they encountered a flash flood. The wooden bridge had long been washed away without a trace, and the yellow muddy water filled the riverbed to the brim, spilling straight onto the banks.

Trees, debris, and even the carcasses of livestock were floating in the water; it was clear that the villages upstream had also been destroyed.

Just then, a yellow ox, clutching a large tree for dear life, was swept down rapidly by the flood.

Ershuan, who came from a farming background, had his eyes light up instantly: "Zhuzi, let's save this ox!"

He Yuzhu didn't say a word; he quickly pulled a thick Rope from the truck, ran fast alongside the floodwaters, and nimbly tied a slipknot.

After running for a distance, he was already parallel to the yellow ox.

He Yuzhu flicked his wrist, and the Rope accurately looped around the ox's head.

He exerted a sudden burst of strength, pulling on the Rope toward the bank.

Ershuan also immediately rushed up to help.

That ox also had a sense of humanity; taking advantage of the pulling force, it swam desperately toward the bank and was soon pulled ashore.

Just at this moment, someone from the direction of the motorcade suddenly shouted at the top of their lungs:

"Someone! There's someone in the water!"

He Yuzhu looked up, his heart tightening violently.

In the murky floodwaters, a young woman was clinging tightly to a piece of wood, bobbing up and down as the waves battered her, and it looked like she couldn't hold on much longer.

The motorcade instantly erupted in chaos.

"The current is too fast! Anyone who goes down there is finished!"

"How can we save her!"

He Yuzhu didn't say a word; he grabbed the Rope, wrapped it around his waist, tied it into a tight knot, and said in a deep voice:

"Ershuan, you hold the other end of the Rope tight; I'm going down to save her!"

"Zhuzi, the water is too big, you can't!" Ershuan roared in a panic.

Before the words had even faded, He Yuzhu had already taken a leap and jumped straight into the rolling floodwaters!

He twisted his body nimbly to avoid the broken wood and debris crashing toward him, used his hands and feet, and rushed toward the woman like a madman, grabbing her arm in a death grip!